The Most Underrated Banworthy Heroes For 5v5 (A.K.A. Tips To Boost Your Elo :D) Part 2: Ban Them. Ban Them Now

So Part 1 covered why the ‘meta bans’ have some pretty simple counters. Part 2 of this will cover some ACTUALLY meta bans, because, you know, any team that picks them and has a good one will destroy you. Always. :wink:

Here goes the list: Baron, Kestrel, Flicker, old man Ardan, Cathy, Lyra, Churnwalker, and Varya.

Yes, this list has a lot of supports, and AOE or global heroes. This comes into play a lot in 5v5 because of one basic thing: almost every serious push in 5v5 is either a team effort, or going to be countered by an enemy team effort, and all these heroes either inflict worlds of hurt on that team, or make the team effort that much more deadly.

Now granted, since these aren’t the most common picks in some tiers, you could argue to save your bans for someone more likely to be picked. I would only argue that while you are correct, just know that if you see one of these heroes on the enemy team, you may be in for a world of hurting and struggle, so beware.

Also, pick these to place the team your facing in a world of hurt and make them early surrender. Enjoy easy rank up! Here goes:

Debated starting this with him. As they say, save the best for last! But hell, I’m itching to see more of him, so here’s THE most banworthy hero in 5v5 atm: Baron. Specifically CP Baron.

He is hell. Hell incarnate. A good Baron on the enemy team can always sway the fight in their favor, regardless of who else the enemy picks (besides when there’s a Taka on the opposing team and your team’s vision sucks. Letting you potential Baron-pickers know early.)

Baron is an absolute monster in 5v5 because of the heavier focus on team pushing and team defending, rather than solo carrying. It’s simple, he will bomb the ever-loving poo out of any team, leaving multiple enemies battle scarred and ready to be picked off, and his biggest utility comes from his global ult. Enemy team going for a dragon before you? Nuke 'em from space! then let your team push in to pick them off and steal it, or steal it yourself, even from base! Teamate struggling against a coordinated push and they are alone? Nuke 'em from space! and make the enemies think twice about finishing that push. Minions pushing a lane turret your team isn’t in? Nuke 'em from space! and ping that one teamate that always wants to tagalong with the group or jungle to get back to their lane. Your minions pushing a turret the enemy team isn’t in and you want to secure it? You know the deal. His global ult is the most single, handedly destructive and tactical weapon on the rise. Use it often, to sway every fight.

Next we have Kestrel. And her global ult (bit of a theme here). Kestrel can do work on her own wherever she is, but her biggest strength comes from being able to finish off any enemy who thought they might just have a chance of beating or escaping whoever they were facing, anywhere. Kestrel’s sniping potential is deadly in the right hands, and just when you think you’re clear, she will remind you that she ALWAYS has you in her sights. A good Kestrel will always be watching the map no matter where she is, finding those opportune moments to wipe an enemy off the face of the rise, and therefore, no opponent or objective is truly safe if a Kestrel is in play, which matters much more on the rises longer to traverse map.

Then we have Flicker, the unsung hero and another global ult user that is a force to be reckoned with in 5v5. Flicker makes enemy scout cams a moot point. As long as he gains invisibility, he will always see them and can destroy them, severely limiting enemy vision. The real perk of flicker is, again, the use of ult power. Flicker can help engage a push or assist in an escape from anywhere on the map. His global stealth and speed boost is never going to be a bad thing…for your team. And with more slots to fill for 5v5, you don’t have to skimp on damage dealers on your team by picking him!

Ardan doesn’t have a global ult, but his gauntlet is as supportive or as deadly as ever. Dropping it on a contested dragon push can buy your team ample time, and allow enemies to trickle into their deaths, or try to foolishly trickle out away from it, and die anyway, not to mention pinning 5 enemies in in 5v5 is useful in many situations.

Catherine. A roaming stun factory. Drop her ult during contested pushes at the right time and steal a dragon every time. Not to mention she can hassle in lane like the best of them.

Lyra’s biggest danger comes from being able to drop a total of 5 enemies on you from way further away than you might think, and her healing and barrier can shut down the way they always have. You can’t really go wrong with a good Lyra on your team, provided the team knows how to use portals effectively.

Churnwalker is an underrated pick in 5v5 but his deadliness hasn’t changed, especially for those contested dragon picks or frantic lane fights. He benefits from having more to hook to in 5v5, therefore instantly more damage potential where it counts.

Varya is another dangerous one in the right hands. Her chain-attacks are a pain from the backline in 5v5, even worse when there’s 2 other people in your face, but the fun starts with global ulting while the whole enemy team is in a frantic fight. 5 bolts hitting the enemy while they walk all over each other to get away, at a 3 round volley, has a habit of hitting someone at least more than once, not to mention the global vision potential, among other things.

So there you have a list of the most underrated ban worthy heroes in 5v5! There are some honorable mentions, like Celeste & Rona, but some of their weaknesses made me decide not to include them in this list.

Also, I pretty much made this for Baron. Use him. Win. Rinse. Repeat.

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Thanks for this! Have some homework to do…hehehe, now to get whatever team I’m on to cooperate. Just have to say, had a Kestrel on my team last night that went 22-0-11… Sick… Couldn’t miss…I was pretty much in awe.

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I don’t fear Baron at all. Flicker is a nuisance at best.

Cath on full CD build can be scary and is as ban worthy as Tony.

Kestrel I agree with completely.

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Don’t tell the world my CP Baron secret D:<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

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Cp kestrel is a nightmare if done right. The best divers are being banned right now and she isn’t weak at any point in the game which one can exploit. With proper vision control and half decent peel she can wipe entire teams easily

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flicker…
his perk and ulti is a great-great favor for his team

and his binding light is annoying (and dangerous) like a pestilent mosquito…

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screenshots or it didn’t happen

(not that I don’t believe you, but I’m curious about the enemy’s and your team’s builds.)


One shot one kill. Nothing survived her insane damage. Proc husk with one shot and kill with next shot. My teammates were bad(not blaming but check out the match if interested) but she was blowing up people like nothing and only my Catherine with her bubble was surviving that crap

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I saw a guy using that build which showed me kestrel. I tried it in the very next game and it worked. lol

Flicker is a joke after the 5 minute mark, and then he tickles (as long he doesn’t coordinate his B slow with a carry/jungle, with you being unable to disengage)

Baron is also a joke. I just watch the ground and play a fancy game I learned in WoW called “DON’T STAND IN THE FIRE”. I can kite better than he ever will. Global ult = cool, bro but every decent player can guess where it will drop after the sound

Kestrel isn’t underrated at all

Here you go. Sorry, should have backed that up first time around
Screenshot_20180403-131426~2

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Oh, you will learn to fear the sweaty mech fighter if he pops up in more battles. You will.

@ThePinkOtter lol normally I don’t share on weighted heroes but when they’re as bad as Baron is right now…I feel guilty.

I’ve had 3 games recently that were 4 vs 5…our team disadvantage. Won every one because every time a team fight ensued I popped an Ion Cannon just behind them in their escape path and bombed them with mortars from the front while my team picked off everyone from half health. Bombed their turrets when they let minions trickle. Bombed them when they tried to team gank a bottom or top laner. Held middle mostly by myself except having to go to shop.

When a hero is so op in the meta that I feel a little dirty using him, I have to share.

@Moose

The 5 minute mark? In a 25 min game? Lol we talking about 5v5 here? In seriousness, Flicker isn’t meant to be a killer through his abilities, though he can if you use an aftershock in the build and build good defense on him. He’s meant to utilize cooldown and his slows to set up ganks for his team, and protect teamates by body blocking with B. His A is there to scare people from being rooted, or catching someone in a channeling ability, instead of damage. His main purpose is to go around destroying enemy cams, supporting all lanes through roaming, and popping his ult whenever he sees his teamates have the advantage or disadvantage in numbers in a fight, or setting up pushes to sneak up on enemies trying to get objectives if you’ve got a cam on them.

As for Baron, that only works if you’re facing him 1v1, and only when he’s low level. Once he’s built cooldown, energy, and damage on his hero, he’s going to be launching mortars not only directly at you, but in the direction you’re walking, and will only need 2-3 hits to severely damage most carries and junglers, and once you’re slowed, it’s going to be open season on you if the Baron is a good predicter if your movements. That’s only 1v1. In teamfights, you’re not going to have time to be coordinating between trying to hit an enemy and trying to deal with Baron’s mortars from the backline, and that’s where Baron shines, as the AOE on his mortar can hit at least 2-3 enemies a pop, weakening them for teamates to finish. As for guessing where the ult will fall, only inexperienced Baron’s will place an ult directly on top of you or somewhere where you’re expected to go, and in 5v5, it’s worse because as I said, you could be bombing anything: minions, turrets, the walking path of an enemy chasing your teamate, the dragons to check if any enemy is there if you don’t have vision. If you feel that way about Baron, you’re not playing good Barons.

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@TheInterpreter By the 5 min mark, I specifically was referring to his ability to easily counter jungle while others are usually clumped around the buffs. After initial rotation, this becomes riskier and he’ll mostly stick to another friendly hero, because yes, his strength is coordinating with other heroes. This is usually when he becomes a potato. Maybe I just play a lot of kiting heroes (only melees I play often are BF and Alpha) but I’ve never had a problem with him.

As for Baron, he is so easy to kite while he is trying to hit you. 1v1 is almost always a win, with semi-decent bruisers or practically all smart kiters. There are very few good Barons that can guess enemy movements (any semi-decent enemy that doesn’t walk straight all the time). However, unless Baron is fed, I’m not too scared of team fights either. Easily focused and all his abilities are really predictable.

Now, note this entire post is for your average and slightly above average players. I would be afraid of an elite Flicker or elite Baron because they would be able to understand the weaknesses underlined and play away from them.

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Agreed on Flicker. His counter jungle is nonexistent and his only effectiveness is keeping you slowed or stuck for his allies to kill, though I would challenge you to try playing Flicker with an AS, HC, CW, BM, Foh, and MJ build. You’d be surprised how many kills you can get on squishier heroes, and even some bruisers, with that one, because his B lets him close range and his A lets him long range, effectively letting him kite on melee heroes and harass ranged ones. If you feel ballsy you could even sacrifice the boots for his perk and slap a SF on him, and his base dmg combined with the brokenmyth plus his ability to tank can make him quite deadly if you use him to pounce on solo enemies.

Also agreed on Baron. I struggle with kiters as him every single time, no matter how skilled they are, though I usually time my mortars and rockets to get good gold in lane, even though he’s notorious for not being able to do so. Usually the only time I have an easy time against kiters is when I’ve built my brokenmyth and spellfire up and at least have a heavy shard. Until then only skill and jumps keeps me alive and getting any hits off. And even then hard kiters like Reza will still destroy me, even at full build, if they’re good, but by then I outrange most of them, and can instead just use the mortars to push enemies back for my team so they can make moves even if I miss.

Sorry for this being two weeks old (I rarely play Flicker). This is usually close to how I build him, although this was an odd match. I was supposed to jungle and the roam AFK’d so mixed it a bit.

I’ll try that build, probably not ranked, and see how it goes. Is it decent enough to counter jungle or which spike do you wait for?

Yeah man it’s great for jungling. His base damage shoots up by the time you max his A or B, and the BM makes you dangerous even to powerful junglers like Koshka. Using double defense instead of a husk also gives you the ability to take advantage of Flicker’s DOT, so between aftershock dmg, your base dmg, and sustaining the hits you take, you become pretty formidable and can get quite a few kills off by yourself, and id you’re in danger, hit them with the B slow and use your boots to escape.

Starting off you just need an energy battery and a crystal. You can farm well that way with your A. Get boots asap, go for the AS as soon as possible, build your defense after, then work on your BM next in my opinion. Your base dmg will cover you for a lot, though you could go for the spellfire if you want. I personally always rush BM to counter any shielding at all from the getgo but that’s just me.

I find Baron’s movements and mortars predictable and slow. He has a very clear attack zone which you can outmove so he can’t hit. You can also pressure him hard in lane.

In teamfights Baron can be a pain but I fear Kestrel, Celeste, Joule, and Samuel a lot more…

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Ardan is really the only one I’d agree with. He is hands down the most versitile captain in game…provided someone knows how to play him. Churnwalker is really only viable with good group coordination, which then he’s a monster.

Kestrel is pretty nasty if a team doesn’t dive her, but that’s kinda the case with all ranged burst heroes.

Drafting is mostly circumstantial depending on what the opposing team picks.

I’m totally fine with the meta bans in soloq. The high meta ban heroes take team coordination to deal with consistently, which most soloq teams don’t have.

Tbh, Baron isn’t that good anymore. He was nerfed to hell. Splash damage nerf, B nerf, A nerf,… he isn’t that good as you are saying, esspecially in 5v5 because you have to 1v1 and Baron sucks 1v1 early game which also means that he gets snowballed and you know what happens to Baron when he gets snowballed.

kessy is a gift from the 5v5 gods and i will abuse her and celeste to climb up

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